WWE Says Don’t Call Them A Wrestling Company

A publicist for World Wrestling Entertainment demanded last week that a television industry news website not refer to them as a wrestling company.

The website in question, TVWeek.com, ran a story on Drew Carey’s induction into the WWE Hall of Fame last week with the headline “Drew Carey Inducted Into Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame. Huh? Drew Carey??!!” The headline drew the ire of WWE publicist Kellie Baldyga, who sent a stern e-mail to the author demanding that the headline be ‘corrected’.

Baldyga wrote in her email, “We are no longer a wrestling company but rather a global entertainment company with a movie studio, international licensing deals, publisher of three magazines, consumer good distributor and more.”

During a subsequent phone conversation, the publicist stated, “No, we don’t do wrestling events. They’re entertainments. And we don’t call them wrestlers. They’re superstars and divas.”

Rather than change the headline, the article was removed from the website altogether. Baldyga sent a follow-up e-mail, reading, “I know the perception is that we are a wrestling company but we are actually much more than that–we are a global media company which is how our Chairman and CEO, Vince McMahon, positions us.”